


Time Brings All Things To Pass

by TheAnonPen



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Canonical Character Death, Dialogue Heavy, Gen, Historical References, Humor, Humour, I promise it is actually mostly humour, Merlin living through history, Post-Episode: s05e13 The Diamond of the Day, Reincarnation, Suicide Attempt, That's it, this was meant to be funnier but it turns out history's just really depressing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-10
Updated: 2020-07-10
Packaged: 2021-03-04 22:00:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,109
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25173520
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheAnonPen/pseuds/TheAnonPen
Summary: Merlin twisted the dial on the back of the alarm clock to set it ringing before taking a run up and hurling it into the lake.“Wakey wakey, arsehole!” He yelled. “What?” He said to the dog walker giving him a strange look from two meters away.---There are many times throughout history that Merlin would class as “Albion’s time of need” but apparently that’s not his call. So instead he returns to the lake every time just to see if Arthur’s there, and a few other times as well. Just to keep him updated. But 1500 years is a very long time, can you blame a warlock for feeling a little impatient?
Relationships: Merlin & Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 76





	Time Brings All Things To Pass

**Author's Note:**

> Please excuse any historical inaccuracies, I did my best but it's just not my subject.

_512AD_

For one year Merlin doesn’t move. As the last flames of the boat flicker out he kneels on the shore of the lake and that is where he stays. He didn’t intend to remain there for so long, but he found that once his knees hit the floor he didn’t have it in him to move. Hours turned to days turned to weeks. He grew hungry and tired but found that he had no real want for food or rest, and he soon came to realise that he had no real need for them anymore either. He felt his muscles weaken with disuse and his hair begin to tickle the bottom of his ears. He didn’t move. He didn’t eat, sleep, or drink for twelve months. Arthur would rise again and he would be there when he did for they still had so much to discuss. He knew it didn’t make sense; that by all rights he should have died there. Yet before he could even question it something in him answered, it was his duty to wait and so wait he would. Since when had destiny ever given him agency over who lived or died?   
One year to the day of Arthur’s death Merlin stood. His joints cried out in protest but he paid them no mind. Afterall, what was pain to someone that could never know death? Except he didn’t know that to be true, not yet. So he walked into the water. At first he instinctively held his breath, but then eventually he allowed himself to inhale. The water burned his lungs and it felt like his chest would explode. It was the strongest sensation he’d felt in a year. He sat on the lake floor for three months before he finally spoke.  
“Well then,” his throat ached as a spoke, the words sounding garbled in the water, “that answers that.”

_566AD_

For over 50 years Merlin convinces himself that Arthur would be back any day now. He builds a small shelter on the shore and rarely strays far. He returns to Camelot a handful of times, the first when he hears word of Gaius’ passing. He never stays though and he doesn’t return often. As time treks on it becomes too painful and he feels like a ghost in the city he used to call home. Everything is dimmer somehow, as if someone has removed the sun from the halls. He watches as his friends age and everyone he once held dear begins to fade. It is hard to watch as once strong knights become frail, their bodies giving out as he remains unchanged. Not a wrinkle, not a grey hair. Gwen is the last to go, her funeral was the last time he would return.   
“When Kilgharrah said you would return I was hoping he meant days,” Merlin sat by the lake edge fiddling with Arthur’s ring; Gwen had left it to him upon her death. He often sat here and spoke to Arthur, he had no idea if he could hear him but it felt only right to keep him up to date on all the latest news. “Realistically I thought it would be years but I didn’t expect it to be this long. It’s ok now though, I’m glad you have each other again and I understand if you want to take a bit longer. Just not too long though, hey? It’s just me here now. I suppose it was too much to think you would have returned by now, Gwen was a brilliant queen Arthur, you should be so proud. Albion’s need was never going to be greatest with her at the helm.”

_795AD_

Time seems to speed up after that. Merlin drifted further from the lake, he crafted life after life for himself. Sometimes a travelling healer, sometimes a courtier, sometimes a hermit in the woods. He even spent a memorable decade as an ill-tempered cloud. He visits the lake often, keeping Arthur updated on both his lives and the goings on of Albion - or Britian as it was now known. After about a century he stopped focussing so much on when Arthur would return. He still believed it would happen (some years it was the only thing keeping him sane) but it became more of a background thought. There was nothing he could do to speed it up so why waste time on it? It was a new approach he was trying in the 600s that he’d termed ‘new century - new me’. In 795AD Vikings plundered Camelot’s castle, however it hadn’t been called Camelot for around 100 years at that point. Merlin mourned the loss with a hollow ache in his chest, he had never returned and by the time he heard of the invasion he was too late to stop it. Besides, he’d made a personal decision not to interfere too much anymore. He only got attached when he did and eventually it became a matter of self preservation so as to avoid losing anyone else. That’s not to say he wasn’t impatient sometimes. He was only - probably - human after all.  
“I know I said you could take your time for a bit but 250 years is pushing it, prat. The Vikings are murdering people, the castle is gone, but somehow this isn’t Albion’s time of greatest need? Come on now, hurry it up a bit.”

_1066AD_

“I thought about helping, at the battle,” Merlin said as he skipped stones across the water. “But we both know what happened the last time I intervened in a Saxon battle. I suppose the king still died this time as well though. I thought this might’ve been it but if Camelot falling wasn’t enough to raise you it was probably naive to get my hopes up for a little Norman invasion. Not entirely sure which side you would have wanted to take actually as it’s not like you were a fan of the Saxons.” He sighed and turned the stone over in the palm of his hand before throwing it into the water and watching it sink. “Happy 500th Deathday Gwen. Is that the right thing to say? I don’t really know what the etiquette should be on that one. I know Arthur probably didn’t get you anything because I had to remind him of his _own_ birthday one year. Can you even get gifts in Avalon? Do you have material goods? Seems a little pointless there.”

_1086AD_

“I applaud the effort I really do, it’s a great idea to have some sort of record of all of your citizens. But what was I supposed to say when they asked me how old I was? I said 22. Do I look 22? Definitely not a day over 300,” Merlin inspected his reflection in the lake’s surface. “They’re calling it the doomsday book, does that mean anything? _Doomsday_ Arthur. Is that not something you’re interested in?” He paused as though waiting for an answer. “No? Thought not.”

_1215AD_

“John deserved the revolution really. It’s not that I think baron’s need tax cuts - of all people - but they didn’t deserve to be treated that badly. I was there you know, when they signed it. Managed to make a copy without anyone seeing,” he cleared his throat and looked at the paper in his hand. “Here I thought you’d like this bit: ‘ _No freeman shall be taken or imprisoned, ... or be outlawed, or exiled, or any other wise destroyed ... but by lawful judgment of his Peers, or by the Law of the land.’_ Definitely an improvement.”

_1337AD_

“We’re at war again. Just letting you know if you hadn’t noticed, in case you wanted to come back and get involved or something. I don’t know why I bother really- and you always said I was the lazy one? At least I never slept for _eight centuries,”_ Merlin rolled his eyes and huffed. “So I reckon the Plantagenets are going to win and I’d say at this point I’ve got enough experience to predict this sort of thing. No, before you ask, I didn’t use magic to see what’s going to happen, you know I hate visions. Should I put money on it? Would it be immoral to bet on a war using centuries of wisdom? Probably. Not sure I could find a bookie to take that bet anyway, it’s probably treason for them to have to root for the Vilois right?”

_1453AD_

“Ok so I would’ve lost that bet but that was 116 years ago so the bookie would’ve died anyway. _116 years of war_ and you didn’t fancy stopping by? I mean come on Arthur shake a damn leg!” Merlin took a breath to steady himself. “Sorry for shouting, not because you didn’t deserve it but because I think those women strolling around the lake think I’m insane now. It’s fine I guess, at least it’s over now. Pretty high death count though. Should I be able to talk about that so casually now? Sometimes I worry I’m too accustomed to death. It was objectively horrifying but I’ve just seen so much of it now. People are so… fragile. Their lives are so fleeting. What’s another few thousand? That’s not how to think, I know that. Gods you probably hate me by now. If you can even hear me. If you’ve ever been able to hear any of this. I think I’m going to go away for a while, don’t worry too much if you don’t see me for a bit. I can look after myself, and even if I can’t then hey… immortality right?”

_1553AD_

Merlin didn’t return to the lake for one hundred years. In all this time he hadn’t gone more than a few months at a time without visiting the lake but he just needed some space for himself. He had become so wrapped up in the length of his existence that he hadn’t noticed he had stopped truly living. Thinking about how callous he had started to become about the lifespan of a normal human disgusted him and it disgusted him more to think of what his friend would have said about that. He wouldn’t make the mistake of getting too attached to anyone, but that didn’t mean he had to isolate himself from the world completely. He learnt how to have friends again even with accepting the knowledge that he would one day lose them. He returned to the lake feeling more like himself than he had in centuries.   
“Guess who?” Merlin smiled as he sat down at the shore. “Didn’t think you’d get rid of me that easily did you? Sorry about last time, I went a bit… funny for a while there. Spent a bit of time as a tree, went travelling, met some interesting people. There was this one guy in Italy - Leonardo - he was amazing. He’s dead now though... I think. I’m ok now, well no I’m clearly not. How could I possibly be ok? Everyone I ever loved died 1000 years ago. But I’m managing. If you wanted to wake up any time soon though that would be nice, it has been a full millenia at this point I mean I know you like to sleep in but this is pushing it a bit don’t you think dollophead?” Merlin sighed. “You’ve got quite the legacy you know, even if most people seem to think you’re not quite real. Thomas Mallory wrote a book about you, it wasn’t very good. Wildly inaccurate… I don’t think he appreciated my criticism though. According to him there’s absolutely no way I could be more of an expert on _Arthurian legend_ \- and that is the one and only time you will hear me call it that, your head is big enough already - than he is. So that’s me told,” he chuckled. “I think you’d like Queen Mary, she reminds me of your father. Both _really_ passionate about burning people. Not that that’s a good thing. ”

_1586AD_

Merlin had never brought another soul to the lake, it was too private, too personal. The lake was his. Until one day he met someone so utterly incredible that he couldn’t imagine keeping anything from them.  
“I made another friend called Will. I didn’t mean to but he was very insistent, you’d hate him. He’s here somewhere… Hey Will! Will! Come say hi to Arthur.”  
“You called the lake Arthur?” the bard smirked  
“No you- you cream faced loon! Arthur’s _in_ the lake.”  
“Cream face loon?”  
“Not my best.”  
“No no, I like it. I’m using that one.”   
“See Arthur, _someone_ appreciates my way with words.” Merlin said smugly as Will made a note of the phrase.

_1616AD_

“Will died. I knew it would happen of course, turns out even after all this time it still hurts to loose someone you loved. I did you know. Love him. You probably wouldn’t approve, of him, or of that sort of love, or that he was married I suppose. But honestly Arthur? You lost the right to an opinion on that sort of thing a fair few centuries ago.” Merlin pulled at the grass in frustration before sighing. “I’m sorry that’s not fair, you’re not even here to defend yourself. I wished you’d met him. I wish you’d met a lot of people actually, you’re really missing out. Like Liz, she was great. Easily one of my top 5 favourite royals.”

_1642AD_

“Rise and shine! No? Nothing? Oh come on! It’s a civil war! What greater need could their possibly be? Look I don’t really like Cromwell or Charles to be honest, so if you could just get off your damn watery arse and create a third option I think you’d do really well! You’re literally a legend at this point Arthur people would definitely follow you if you managed not to get locked up and I could help with that bit. Whatever, why am I even surprised at this point? Stay down there, see if I care.”

_1645AD_

“Uther was a real trendsetter apparently. This time most of the people executed aren’t actually witches though, just women that can read. I’m not sure if that’s better or worse… I helped a few escape where I could, I know I said I wouldn’t get involved but preventing people being executed for witchcraft does sort of feel like it falls in my remit,” Merlin tried to joke but it fell flat. “I really thought we’d be past people wanted to execute us just for being born by now, I don’t give a damn about their devil I’ve never had anything to do with him. What is it about magic that makes people want to kill me? Is my existence really that offensive?”

_1666AD_

When the plague hit Merlin returned to healing, figuring that it wasn’t like he could get sick anyway. Despite how uncomfortable he found it he wore the mask to reassure people (although personal he thought it had the opposite effect) that he was healthy enough to be allowed in their homes. When the fire hit he did what he could for the victims but witchcraft was still illegal so he didn’t dare risk doing more.  
“So I thought that the plague might’ve been the time of need but I don’t blame you for not coming back for that, it’s not like you’re a physician. You probably would’ve just gotten sick and died again and then where would we be? Well… here I guess. Not like you could’ve really helped with the fire either. It did really have a ‘time of need’ sort of feel to it though.”

_1689AD_

“I know that you were a king and all but I don’t think you’d be horrendously opposed to the direction we seem to be heading in. People led by the people? That seems like something you’d have liked. Everything feels a little calmer now, it was all so dramatic for the past few centuries but things are a little less exciting now. It’s not that I want to go backwards but… you’re much less likely to rise when there’s nothing going on. Sometimes, normally first thing in the morning, I’m not even sure I believe it all anymore. Maybe I’m just insane. I mean that’s not really debatable anymore is it? But maybe you never existed in the first place. I know Camelot was real though, I know you were all real. I still have the flail scar on my shoulder to prove it. Do you remember that? The second time we met and you chased me with a weapon? You prat. I don’t know why I’m asking really, talking to a lake like a damn fool.” A breeze ruffled his hair as if in answer, “I know that was just a coincidence but I’ll take what I can get.”

_1783AD_

“Everyone seems to think that the loss of the colony is a terrible thing, but honestly the revolutionists had a point. There really is no reason why we should control the United States. What do you think? I know you were in favour of a united Albion but there’s a difference between uniting nations and controlling them.”

_1805AD_

“Nelson reminded me of you, he’s the only man I’ve followed into battle since you. Should I have preserved you in brandy? That’s what they did with him. I don’t think you’d have wanted that though, I’m not sure he would’ve wanted it either honestly. Gwaine on the other hand...”

_1815AD_

“1200 years ago I probably would’ve wondered why you didn’t come back for this but it’s fine, Wellington had it handled. Just about. Honestly with all the changes to modern warfare if you had come back now I’m not sure you’d have won. I know you don’t like taking my advice but when you do drag your arse out of this lake you should probably do it with enough time for a thorough education in what’s happened so far, which’ll take a while. Especially for you clotpole.”

_1859AD_

If there was one thing Merlin was enjoying following it was the advancements of modern science. From healing to astronomy to the new theories presented by Charles Darwin, even if they weren’t that popular with everyone.  
“I think he’s right. There’s got to be a reason we look so much like monkeys right? I suppose you don’t really know what a monkey is. Basically they’re… Do you remember Bedivere? They’re like a more intelligent Bedivere.”

_1914AD_

“This is it isn’t it? It has to be. Tell me this is when you come back.” Merlin fiddled with his shirt cuff. “I might not be around for a while, I’m going to head to Europe. I know I said I wouldn’t get involved in events until you returned but I can’t not go. This is really bad Arthur… I’ve signed up as a medic, it’s not that hard to fake documents with magic and I do have the knowledge for it. I have to help somehow, I can’t just do nothing”

_1918AD_

When Merlin returned to the lake after the war he tried to find the words to describe the past few years to his friend but he had nothing. So instead, for the first time in centuries, he sat on the shores of the lake of Avalon and he wept. For the souls lost on the battlefield, for all those he had seen come and go throughout his time, and most of all for the man buried in these waters. For if this didn’t count as Albion’s time of greatest need that implied that either the worst was still yet to come or that Arthur really was never returning, and Merlin couldn’t decide which of those was worse.

_1936AD_

“Given that the Church of England was founded pretty much just so that Henry could get divorced I’m not really sure what they think their doing stopping Edward marrying a divorcee.” Merlin rolled his eyes at the hypocrisy of the modern monarchy. “Whatever, not my circus anymore.”

_1939AD_

“I’m heading back to Europe tomorrow, this is even worse than last time. Please Arthur, tell me this is it. Tell me it doesn’t get worse than this.” Merlin took a shaky breath. “Just wake up damnit, wake up!”

_May 1945AD_ _  
_ “They called it the _second_ world war and I really hope you not being here doesn’t imply we’re due a third. If I find out you had any say in when you came back and you avoided this I swear to every god that was ever invented I will drown you in this fucking lake myself.”

_September 1945AD_

“Sometimes I wonder how you’d react to modern technology. Whether you’d love it or be terrified of it. I think the latter is probably the correct response. I went to Japan, figured I’d either finally find something that would kill me or I could at least help. I don’t- I don’t know how anyone could ever invent something like that, much less use it. They can’t have known, right? I simply cannot accept that they could possibly have known what it would do. Except… if that were true why drop the second one?” Merlin scrubbed at his eyes with the heel of his palm. “I think I’m going to take a few decades out. It’s getting harder and harder to disappear from civilisation now, maybe I’ll go find a nice mountain for a while.”

_2000AD_

“I was out for longer than planned, apparently now computers are going to destroy the world tonight. I don’t really know why, something about numbers? I’ll learn how to use them this year if we don’t all die. This would be a really good time for you to come back you know, really seems to fit the description. You won’t though, dickhead. 1500 years now I think... Happy New Year Arthur.” Merlin took a swig of the bottle of champagne he’d brought with him. “Anyway let me catch you up on the last fifty years because there has been a lot going on, did you know we’ve sent people to the moon now? Crazy.”

_2012AD_

Merlin had long learnt his lesson about getting attached to people, but that didn’t mean he was able to avoid it. Having had enough of medicine for at least a few centuries, he took up a position teaching history. He really tried not to get too involved in his student’s lives but what was he meant to do when he found Maria living in the school after being thrown out by her abusive father? He couldn’t just leave her there.  
“So I don’t really think the apocalypse is going to happen but on the off chance I thought I should probably be here. Plus I have news. I know I said I’d try not to get attached to people anymore but I sort of… adopted one. A small one. She’s 13, one of my students. She didn’t have anywhere else to go and I wasn’t exactly about to turn her away was I? It was probably a mistake. She’ll notice when she doesn’t turn me grey. I’ll probably have to tell her everything and then she’ll have me sectioned. I guess I could fake my own death...”

_2016AD_

“Look, I thought it was a longshot but first Brexit and now Trump? Feels pretty damn needy Arthur!”

_2020AD_

Merlin twisted the dial on the back of the alarm clock to set it ringing before taking a run up and hurling it into the lake.  
“Wakey wakey arsehole!” He yelled. “What?” He said to the dog walker giving him a strange look from two meters away.

_2022AD_

1506 years. That’s how long it took for Merlin to irreparably break. In the end it wasn’t war, or famine, or pestilence that did it. It was, of course, death. As it had always been. He’d been so proud to see Maria graduate that summer, she’d always said it was him that inspired her to go into medicine. Even though he hadn’t worked as a doctor whilst she had known him he had eventually caved and told her his story when she was 15. She hadn’t believed him at first but proof of his magic changed her mind pretty quickly. He had worried that she’d try to run from him, that she’d think him a monster. But instead she reached over and hugged him, and just like that he knew this girl was going to destroy him. She was the closest thing he had ever had to a daughter for he knew that watching his children age and die would break his heart. Yet by the time he realised he loved her it was too late. He knew that it would tear him apart to lose her but as much as that made him want to draw away he couldn’t. He would lose himself to this he knew, but he would have many happy years with her in his life first. Or so he thought.   
After the graduation ceremony he had taken her out for dinner and then waved her off as she went to celebrate on a night out with her mates. His phone woke him at 1am. His sweet girl was already gone by the time he reached the hospital. A hit and run, suspected drunk driver. She hadn’t even been in the road, just taking a selfie outside a bar. The police promised they would do everything they could but they were honest with him that the chances of finding the driver were low.   
Finding the driver was easy for Merlin. It was the first time he had killed someone with magic since Camelot. That was disturbingly easy too.  
He buried her in the lake. Officially he wasn’t allowed but it wasn’t hard to bury an empty casket for show. As the flames of the boat died out he knew then that his decision was made, it took him an hour to visit enough shops to get what he needed. He pulled out the bottle of whiskey and poured a splash on the ground.  
“Cheers,” he took a swig and began popping pills from the blister packs. “I know you’re both disappointed in me right now. It’s not the coward’s way out Arthur, I’ve been through too much for you to get to call me that anymore. Maria- I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, I couldn’t protect you I couldn’t keep you safe. I couldn’t keep either of you safe. I hope I make it to Avalon but if I don’t… look after each other for me, yeah? Who am I kidding this might not even work. I just want to stop for a while. Stop thinking, stop hurting. Just stop. Even if it’s not permanent. Ah well, worth a shot at this point right? What have I got to lose now?”   
He had a full handful of pills now, he didn’t know how many exactly but it would be more than enough for anyone else. He took a breath to steady himself before tossing them into his mouth and swallowing them with most of the bottle of whiskey. He lay back on the grass and waited for the effects to take hold. As he stared up at the sky, he remembered.  
He remembered his mother. He remembered Gaius, and Gwen, and Lancelot, and all of his friends in Camelot. He remembered Morgana for what she used to be, for what she could have been. He remember Will and his poems. He remembered everything about Maria, her gentle nature and her blinding smile. He remembered Arthur. He remembered every moment they’d had together, every insult, every argument, every laugh. As his vision faded and the world became black he remembered those last breaths so clearly he could almost hear his voice again.  
Merlin’s return to the world was painful. His throat was felt sore from the tubing for the gastric lavage and intubation that he knew was likely used. It’s how he would’ve treated it. He was alone when he woke, in a room that was clearly in a hospital and most likely connected to an A&E. He squeezed his eyes shut in frustration as a tear rolled fown his cheek, so he didn’t get a way out. Not even for a little bit. The last thing he remembered as he had faded was hearing Arthur’s voice and he tried to cling to that for just a little bit longer. It was surprisingly effective, whilst he had never forgotten the sound of Arthur’s voice he heard it with more clarity than he had in centuries. He could almost hear him saying things that he knew had definitely never come out of the king’s mouth. As if- wait.  
“Look I don’t know the guy, I’m not his next of kin, I have no idea who you should call for him! I was just going for a jog and saw him passed out next to the lake muttering. He kept saying the name Arthur maybe you should be looking for him?” Merlin sat straight up as his brain put the pieces together, hissing as his IV pulled. He unclipped the pulse oximeter from his finger and pulled himself out of the bed with some difficulty as he heard another voice respond.  
“I thought you said _your_ name was Arthur?”  
“It is but that doesn’t mean I’m _his_ Arthur. It’s a coincidence.” Merlin grabbed the IV stand and staggered over to the door. He pushed it open to reveal a nurse on the other side but he paid her no mind as he noticed the man she was talking to. He had to grab the stand to stay upright as his legs nearly gave out with shock. 1506 years later and Arthur looked exactly the same.  
“Arthur?” he whispered and they both turned to him.  
“Sorry, do I know you?” Arthur said with a slight frown as the nurse began fussing over him. That was it, that was what tipped him over the edge. All this time and those words sounded exactly the same as they did when they had first met. Merlin started to laugh. He couldn’t help it, everything that had happened and he wasn’t even in the damn lake? He laughed until his face hurt and he could barely stand. He had tears streaming down his face as he tried to catch his breath, aware that he looked completely mad at this point.  
“I don’t understand, what’s so funny?” Arthur said. Merlin looked up into the blue eyes that he had never forgotten and beamed.  
“It’s the end of the fucking world.”

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> This entire fic was inspired by a line I wrote in my notes at 1am which was just:  
> "WAKEY WAKEY ARSEHOLE" *yeets a clock*  
> Like that's it that's the fic.
> 
> This is so different to my usual style but I had so much fun writing it! It was pretty hard to pick which events to focus on, what I'd envisioned is that these are just snapshots of Merlin's visits and he actually goes a lot more - I just wasn't about to write 1506 years worth of monologuing. There were a few other things I wanted to include but couldn't get to flow such as the War of the Roses, Henry VIII's older brother that would've been Britain only (official) King Arthur had he survived, the Boer war, and some more notable inventions such as the telephone and the internet. If you want to know what all the different events were see below:
> 
> 512 - Arthur dies.  
> 566 - Gwen dies, the last of the canon characters (save Merlin).  
> 795 - Viking invasion of Britain.  
> 1066 - Battle of Hastings.  
> 1086 - Work begins on the Doomsday Book (the first census).  
> 1215 - Signing of the Magna Carta.  
> 1337 - The 100 year war begins.  
> 1453 - The 100 year war ends.  
> 1553 - The reign of Queen Mary, known as Bloody Mary.  
> 1586 - Shakespeare at age 22.  
> 1616 - Shakespeare dies.  
> 1642 - The English civil war.  
> 1645 - Height of witch-hunting.  
> 1666 - The Plague (technically '65) and the great fire of London.  
> 1689 - The signing of the Bill of Rights (the British one).  
> 1783 - American civil war ends.  
> 1805 - The battle of Trafalgar.  
> 1815 - The battle of Waterloo.  
> 1859 - Charles Darwin publishes On the Origin of Species.  
> 1914 - Start of WW1.  
> 1918 - End of WW1.  
> 1936 - Abdication of Edward VIII.  
> 1939 - Start of WW2.  
> May 1945 - End of WW2 in Europe.  
> September 1945 - Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August.  
> 2000 - The millenium.  
> 2012 -The Mayan apocalypse.  
> 2016 - Brexit and Trump's election.  
> 2020 - Just... the entire year.


End file.
